1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recorded medium reproducing apparatus for reproducing recorded medium such as optical discs, for example DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or CD (Compact Disc).
2. Description of Related Art
Some examples of optical disc reproducing apparatuses are CD players, video CD players or DVD video players. An apparatus that allows for two or more optical discs to be loaded in these kinds of players is normally called a changer, and it makes it possible to reproduce, in succession, several optical discs. There is a type of changer which holds a plurality of optical discs in a disc holder which is equipped inside the optical disc reproducing apparatus and has a plurality of disc accommodating units, and there is a type of changer which holds a plurality of optical discs in a disc holder which has a detachable adapter that allows it to be removed from the reproducing apparatus and has a plurality of disc accommodating units. Each of the disc accommodating units in the disc holder is assigned a channel number. When the changer reproduces in sequence the optical discs, an FL (fluorescent) display lamp on each disc accommodating unit indicates whether or not a corresponding disc accommodating unit contains an optical disc. For example, in a case of a changer that is equipped with a disc holder capable of holding five optical discs, there is an FL display lamp for each disc, DISC1, DISC2, DISC3, DISC4 and DISC5. Normally, in the initial state of the changer when detecting whether or not there are optical discs, all of the display lamps light up. As soon as it is detected that there is no optical disc, the FL display lamp corresponding to the channel number of that disc accommodating unit goes OFF.
FIGS. 7A thru 7C show one example of the display unit of a conventional changer. Here the display unit comprises FL display lamps.
FIG. 7A shows when all lamps are OFF and FIG. 7B shows when all lamps are ON. The numbers 1 to 5 in FIG. 7 indicate the channel numbers that are assigned to the disc accommodating units. In the initial state, all of the lamps are lit up as shown in FIG. 7B. Each disc accommodating unit is judged whether or not it contains an optical disc, and as a result, the FL display lamps for channel numbers corresponding to disc accommodating units that were judged to contain no optical disc go OFF. In the example shown in FIG. 7C, it indicates that there is no optical disc in the disc accommodating unit that corresponds to channel number 2, and in the disc accommodating unit that corresponds to channel number 5.
Generally, DVD players are capable of reproducing CD discs as well as DVD discs. Also, optical disc apparatuses that are capable of loading a plurality of various kinds of optical discs, or in other words, changers that are capable of handling various kinds of optical discs, are being sold commercially.
However, this kind of conventional changer did not take into consideration simultaneously displaying the information of whether or not there are optical discs in the disc accommodating units for each respective channel number of the disc holder, and the information of what kind of optical discs there are.
Therefore, when this kind of conventional changer reproduces optical discs loaded in the disc accommodating units of the disc holder, it was necessary for users to perform the troublesome work of checking what kind of optical disc loaded into the disc accommodating units for all of the channel numbers.
Japanese patent publication No. S61-184766 discloses an optical information recording/reproducing apparatus having detection means for detecting whether or not there is a disc, and the size of the disc or the type, and display means for displaying whether or not there is a disc, and the size of the disc or the type based on the detection results at the detection means. Also, Japanese patent publication No. H10-228718 discloses an optical disc apparatus having a disc judgment circuit which uses a signal obtained from the reflected beam reflected from an optical disc to determine the kind of the optical disc, and an optical disc display circuit that displays the kind of the optical disc that is mounted.
However, these apparatuses described in these publications are for reproducing only a single disc, and in a case of optical disc reproducing apparatuses which are capable of loading a plurality of various kinds of optical discs, they do not display whether or not there is an optical disc and the optical disc type for each disc accommodating unit. They do not take into account simultaneously displaying in a form that is easy for the user to understand whether or not there is an optical disc and the optical disc type for each disc accommodating unit.
In consideration of the aforementioned problem, an object of this invention is to provide a recorded medium reproducing apparatus (changer) that is capable of loading a plurality of recorded media of various kinds: wherein the apparatus is capable of simultaneously displaying in a form that is easy for the user to understand the relation between information of whether or not there is recorded medium loaded in recorded medium accommodating unit and information of the kind of recorded medium for each recorded medium accommodating unit.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a recorded medium reproducing apparatus capable of loading a plurality of recorded media of various kinds, comprising:
holding means having a plurality of accommodating units for accommodating recorded media,
recorded medium detection means for detecting whether or not there is a recorded medium accommodated in each of the accommodating units,
medium-type detection means for detecting the kind of the recorded medium that was detected to be accommodated in the accommodating unit by the recorded medium detection means, and
display means for displaying detection results of the recorded medium detection means and the medium-type detection means with regard to each of the plurality of accommodating units, respectively, wherein:
the display means comprises a first display portion for displaying the detection result of the recorded medium detection means and a second display portion for displaying the detection result of the medium-type detection means, which are located in close proximity to each other and provided for each of the plurality of accommodating units.
In a case of the recorded medium reproducing apparatus of the present invention being capable of reproducing two kinds of optical discs, for example, the medium-type detection means is capable of detecting the type of optical discs accommodated in the accommodating units by irradiating a laser beam on an optical disc accommodated in an accommodating unit and reading the table of contents (TOC).
Moreover, the first display portion of the display means displays whether or not a recorded medium is accommodated in the accommodating unit that corresponds to the first display portion concerned, as well as the channel number assigned to the accommodating unit that corresponds to the first display portion concerned.
Furthermore, the second display portion of the display means may comprise a plurality of display segments. In this case, by changing the display mode of the display segments for each type of recorded medium, it is possible to display the kind of recorded medium that is accommodated in the accommodating unit corresponding to the second display portion concerned. In addition, the second display portion can be located so as to surround the first display portion that corresponds to the accommodating unit corresponding to the second display portion concerned.